Innovation

EcoAldea 001 is an innovation that affects the way an entire community works. It focuses on creating awareness in society about our current way of living and how it has an impact on the environment. The innovation consists in creating a complex of ten houses that goes way further than just making profit out of them, it involves sustainable energy, organic gardens, respect for the environment, and ultimately, it aims to change the perspective of what a responsible and respectful way of living means to this society.

It emerged with the need of creating a dignified lifestyle that could be aligned to the needs and current situation of our environment. It had to be something that could remind people of the importance of our ecosystem and our role in this world as environmental caretakers.

This business innovation idea was created by a group of friends who were concerned about the effects that city and housing planning has in the ecosystem. They knew that the priority of most city planning is fitting a lot of people into one space, and having nearby almost everything they need for their daily living, but this system has had a negative effect on our environment. They decided to create a balance between modern cities and our ecosystem. The project does not only focus on selling houses with green technology, but it aims to change the way of living of the “villagers”, in which they are given courses on how to grow their own vegetables and plants, and foster a sense of community.

This innovation has a mission to become a replicable model all along Mexico and Latin America. Grupo Casa has the purpose of creating a safe, sustainable, modern and worthy lifestyle that truly values the importance of our world and our environment, and EcoAldea 001 aligns to all of these values together to be a change agent with the mission of improving our lifestyle and reducing our environmental footprint.

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Inspiration

EcoAldea is an original idea that was born from a group of friends who were truly concerned about the housing problems in our country and the impact that it has on the environment. Rodrigo said that this project is a primary necessity and Mexico does not have it yet. Sustainable housing, ecological, friendly and with green areas is considered in many places as an utopia, regardless of the difficult situation, the idea of giving people an opportunity of living in a space that aligns to values and is committed with the environment was conceived. This idea is based on a whole different way of living. The main motivation was that a lot of people are interested in changing the world, and also to save and protect it. He said that he wanted a house that had everything but still being eco friendly. It is important to mention that it creates a better quality of life, by living in an area free of pollution, surrounded by green spaces, organic gardens, orchards, green energy and most important, by pure nature. The architects for this project focused on creating 10 houses in a 1000 square meter terrain with the aim of not stacking the houses together. The project has as a purpose to give people a decent and economical house that could also respect the privacy of the habitants.

Overall impact

Their initial demand expectations were not more than 100 applicants, but contrary to this, EcoAldea 001 received more than 1000 applications for the purchase of one of these 10 houses that make up the town. Driven by the impact and acceptance of EcoAldea 001, Grupo Casa seeks to start a new project three times larger in which the number of houses will be greater and will integrate new sustainable technologies among which are water collection and sanitation technologies . According to Rodrigo Sanchez, director of Grupo Casa, the success of EcoAldea 001 has positioned them as the first company in the real estate industry at the Latin American level which creates and offers a sustainable option for residents to adapt it to their lifestyle.

Business benefit

The main benefit that Grupo Casa has obtained from EcoAldea 001 is to be able to carry out this idea and learn from this innovation. Rodrigo Sánchez comments that at the beginning he only seeks to create a space for him and his nearby circle; but in view of the demand obtained, he realized that, like him, there are many more people looking for a sustainable option to live.

Currently, Rodrigo is part of the community, and together with the neighbors they have begun to create this sustainable community in which harmony, peace, as well as respect between them and towards nature is the basis of their new lifestyle, something that for Grupo Casa means an achievement beyond the economic benefits.

Social and environmental benefit

As it has been mentioned before, EcoAldea goes beyond being a unique construction project, but a sustainable community; with this objective, and in addition to a home full of eco-technologies and innovative architecture, the inhabitants have discovered communal activities for integration such as outdoor movie nights as well as activities for their community and the environment. Some of these activities are:

• Construction of a communal garden
• Training for the maintenance of an urban garden
• Street cleaning projects

On the other hand, the environmental benefits that can be rescued from EcoAldea 001 are the growth of sustainable biodiversity and the protection of the environment thanks to different activities carried out in the community, such as:

• Care of the flora species that exist and have been cultivated within the community space
• Creation of a protected environment for species like butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, squirrels and other types of animals that inhabit the area.

Interview

Rodrigo Sanchez Martinez, EcoAldea 001